Marketing Insights Examples: 3 Real Brand Case Studies

Marketing insights are the often-unexpected findings, uncovered through listening to and observing consumers, that reveal the real reasons behind their behavior and open up new marketing or product opportunities.

Are you a good listener? Here at Research America, we pride ourselves on our listening skills. After all, market research depends on how well we pay attention to the things consumers say and do. Only by listening and questioning and examining consumers are we able to condense, prioritize and analyze data, recommending actions that lead to smart and profitable results for the companies we serve.

Part of being a good listener is remaining open to the discovery of things unknown. It’s also Market Research Rule #1. Too frequently, companies, and the market researchers they hire, set out to prove a theory or validate a hunch. While having a specific question in hand at the onset of any research endeavor is critical to the project’s success, it’s important for researchers to not overlook surprising outcomes simply because they don’t expect or agree with them. Oftentimes, it’s the unexpected marketing insights that lead companies to some of their greatest successes. Take a look at these surprising marketing insights examples from some of the world’s most well-known businesses:

DirectTV

Using market research, DirectTV was able to determine a link between new homeownership and new television services. Surprising? Only if you aren’t open to digging deep for unusual correlations. With this insight, DirectTV was able to apply USPS information to identify homeowners registering a change of address, targeting them with personalized marketing materials and ads in an attempt to upgrade or change their TV subscriptions.

Key takeaway: some of the most valuable marketing insights come from creatively combining data sources, like pairing market research with public change-of-address records, rather than from asking consumers directly what they want.

Mars, Inc.

Want to guess why people in Russia didn’t eat Mars ice cream during the summer right after the collapse of communism? (Even if you want to guess, don’t.) When Mars went to Russia to ask consumers why they weren’t buying ice cream during the logical ice cream season, its executives were shocked to learn that Russia didn’t have enough refrigerated trucks to supply store-bought ice cream for home consumption and some households didn’t even have a refrigerator at home at all! In the summer, all the ice cream would melt before reaching shelves/homes. All the marketing in the world can’t fix a problem like that! Thus, it’s good Mars was willing to listen to consumers; otherwise, it never would (or could) have resolved the issue.

Key takeaway: a marketing problem isn't always actually a marketing problem. Uncovering the real, sometimes infrastructural, barrier keeps a company from wasting resources on the wrong fix.

Dove

Historically, Dove has been known as a “beauty bar.” But in 2004, when consumers were asked about the concept of beauty, half of the women surveyed believed beauty was too narrowly defined and just 2% believed themselves to be beautiful. As a soap company, Dove could have chosen several other ways of interpreting and using this information. Instead, it revolutionized the advertising industry, successfully changing cultural perception with their resulting “Campaign For Real Beauty.”

Key takeaway: when research reveals a gap between how consumers see themselves and how an industry has defined them, that gap can become the foundation for market-defining positioning, not just a data point to note and move past.

How to Uncover Your Own Marketing Insights

These three examples share a common thread: none of them came from a survey question designed to confirm what the company already believed. Uncovering marketing insights like these generally starts with a few deliberate habits:

Ask open-ended questions through qualitative research and leave real room for answers you didn't anticipate
Combine data sources creatively, the way DirectTV paired market research with USPS records, through broader consumer insights work
Segment your audience with market segmentation so a surprising finding in one group doesn't get averaged away in the overall numbers
Track sentiment and behavior over time with ad tracking and brand messaging research to catch shifts before they become obvious

Want to Learn More?

Of course, these are only three surprising marketing insights examples. Every day, companies uncover insights that are capable of changing their products, policies and procedures for the better. The key is to remain open to opinions and suggestions from consumers, customers and other key players. A reputable team of researchers can help, facilitating the dialogue needed to get reliable and actionable insight for more profitable results. Please contact Research America to learn more about our services, as well as our expertise.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are marketing insights?

Marketing insights are the often-unexpected findings, uncovered through listening to and observing consumers, that reveal the real reasons behind their behavior and open up new marketing or product opportunities.

What is "Market Research Rule #1"?

Market Research Rule #1 is remaining open to surprising outcomes instead of only setting out to prove a theory or validate a hunch. Some of a company's greatest successes come from insights researchers didn't expect or initially agree with.

How can companies uncover their own marketing insights?

Companies can uncover their own marketing insights by asking open-ended questions through qualitative research, combining data sources creatively, segmenting their audience so surprising findings in one group aren't averaged away, and tracking sentiment and behavior over time.